BIRDS OF EASTERN AND SOUTHERN ASl£ 



Ont/choprton fuliglnosus. (Sterna fuliginosa ; 

 ' Sooty Trrn.') Very generally distributed, like 

 the last Bay of Be'igal. 



Xema ridihunda. Larus ridihjindus; (' Black- 

 headed Gull ') Europe, Asia, N. Africa : Dot 

 rare in India, but less common than the nearly 

 affined X. Brunneocephnlns. 



Larus fuscus. (' Lesser Black-backed Gull.') 

 Atlantic, Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, 

 Cape of G. Hope, N. Zealand, Kabul (Burnes), 

 Bay of Bengal, 



Procellaria hoesitata. ('Capped Petrel.') Indian 

 and southern oceans : a rare straggler in Bri- 

 tain, that has been obtained once only. 



Puffinus obscurus. {' Dusky Petrel.') Tropi- 

 cal and S. Seas ; Australia; rare northward. — 

 (Oal. : Rev. : No. IV. March 1857.) 



The migrations of birds has been the theme 

 of poets and naturalists in all ages. Mrs. 

 Hemans, asks of the swallows, 



Birds, joyous birds of the wandering wing, 

 Whence is it ye come with the flowers of spring ? 

 " We come from the shore of the green old Nile, 

 From the land where the roses of Sliaron smile, 

 From the palms that wave through the Indian sky, 

 From the myrrh-tree of glowing Araby. 



We have swept o'er the cities, in song renown'd, 

 Silent they lie, with the deserts round ! 

 We have crossed proud rivers, whose tide hath roU'd, 

 All dark with the warrior blood of old ; 

 And each worn wing hath regained its liome, 

 "Under the peasant's roof-tree, or monarch's dome." 

 And what have ye found in the monarch's dome. 

 Since tast ye traversed the blue sea's foatBl ? 

 " We have found a change, we have found a pall. 

 And a gloom o'ershadowing the banquet's hall, 

 And a mark on the floor, as of life-d-rops spilt, 

 Nought looks the same, save the nest we built !" 

 Sad is yonr tale of the beautiful earth. 

 Birds that o'ersweep it in power and mirth ! 

 Yet, through the wastes of the trackless air. 

 Ye have a guide, and 'shall we despair ? 

 Ye over desert and deep have passed. 

 So shall we reach our bright home at last ! 



Another poet thus alludes to the migration 

 of swallows : 



" As fables tell, an Indian sage, 

 The Hindoostani woods among, 

 Could, in his desert hermitage, 

 As if 't were marked in written page, 

 Translate the wild bird's song. 

 " I wish I did his power possess. 

 That [ might learn, fleet bird, from thee, 

 What our vain systems only guess. 

 And know to what wide wilderness, 

 You go across the sea," 



The great migration of birds to and from 

 Southern India Asia " says Mr. Hodgson, 

 seems to take place across the mountains of Ne- 

 paul. The wading and natatorial birds, general- 

 ly, make a mere stage of the valley, on their way 

 to and from the vast plains of India and Tibet, 

 the valley being too small, diy, open, and 

 populous for their taste — especially that of the 

 larger ones. Some, however, stay for a longer 

 or shorter time, in their vernal and autumnal 

 migrations : and some, again, remain through- 

 out that large portion of the year in which the 



climate is congenial to their habits. Of all of 

 them, the seasons of arrival, both from the 

 north and from the south, are marked with 

 precision ; and Mr. Hodgson was led to con. 

 elude from what he observed there, that the mass 

 of the grallatores and swimmers are found in 

 the plains of India, only during the cold months : 

 for they all arrive in the valley of Nqjal, from 

 the north, towards and at the close of the raius ; 

 and all as regularly re-appear from the south, 

 upon, or soon after the cessation of the hot 

 weather. In his enumeration of them, there- 

 fore, he divides the migratory birds into the 

 three classes, below indicated. 



1st. — Of such as usually pass over the valley, 

 seldom alighting, and only for a few hours. 



2nd.— Of such as alight and stay for a few 

 davs or, at most, weeks, 



3rd. — Of such as seem to seek the valley, 

 not as a caravansary merely, or house of call, 

 for momentary or temporary sojourn, on their 

 way to some remote abode— but, as their per- 

 manent dwelling place for the entire season. 



A 4th class will be constituted of such as do 

 not appear to migrate at all ; notwithstanding 

 that all their nearest kindred (so to speak) do 

 so regularly. 



Class I. embraces, 



Order Natatoees. Family Amtida ; the 

 Genera Cygnus and Anser ; Family Colymbidce, 

 none ; Family Alcada, none. Family Pele- 

 canidee ; the Genera Phalacrocorax and Peleca- 

 nus, Family Laridce ; the Genera Sterna, 

 Viralva, and Larus. 



Order Gkallatores. Family Gruida; ; the 

 Genus Grus. Family Ardeidoe ; the Genera 

 Ardea, Phenicopterus, Platalea, Ciconia, Myc- 

 teria, Anastomus, Tantalus. Family Scolopa- 

 cidce, none. Family Rallidm, the Genus 

 Glareola. Family Charadriadce, the Genera 

 Himantopus and ffidicnemus. 



Class II. embraces, 



Order Natatoees. Family Anatida ; the 

 following Genera, Tadoura, Anas, Hynchaspis, 

 Dafila, Mareca, Querquedula, Merganser, Truli- 

 gula. Family Colymhidoe, none. Family Alcadrs, 

 none. Family Pelecanidce ; the Genera Pha- 

 lacrocorax and Pelecanus. 



Order Gballatokes. Family Gruidce ; the 

 Genus Anthropoides. Family Ardeidoe, the 

 Genus Ibis. Family ScolopacidcB ; the Genera 

 Numeuius, Limicula, Eecurvirostra, Limosa, 

 Ehynchsea, Pelinda, Phgeopus. Family Eailidce; 

 the Genera Eallus, Parra, Gallinula, "Porphyrio, 

 Fulica, Family Charadriadee ; the Genera 

 Frolia, Squatarola, Vanellus, Charadrias- 

 Class III. embraces, 



Order Natatoees. Family Anatidce ; the 

 Genera Mareca and Querquedula, (where pro- 

 tected^ as in some sacred tanks). Family Colyni' 



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